Filed on behalf of Petitioner
`By: Elisabeth H. Hunt
`Richard F. Giunta
`Randy J. Pritzker
`WOLF, GREENFIELD & SACKS, P.C.
`600 Atlantic Avenue
`Boston, MA 02210
`Tel: (617) 646-8000
`Fax: (617) 646-8646
`EHunt-PTAB@wolfgreenfield.com
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`_____________
`
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`_____________
`
`RPX Corporation,
`Petitioner,
`
`v.
`
`Digital Audio Encoding Systems, LLC,
`Patent Owner.
`_____________
`
`Case No. TBD
`Patent No. 7,490,037
`_____________
`
`DECLARATION OF SCHUYLER QUACKENBUSH, PH.D.
`
`RPX Exhibit 1002
`RPX v. DAE
`
`

`
`
`
`TABLE OF CONTENTS
`
`PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND ................................. 1
`I.
`II. MATERIALS REVIEWED AND CONSIDERED .......................................... 4
`III. LEVEL OF ORDINARY SKILL IN THE ART ............................................... 7
`IV. THE BASICS OF DIGITAL SIGNAL ENCODING ....................................... 8
`V. SUMMARY OF THE ‘037 PATENT CLAIMS ............................................. 14
`VI. CLAIMS 1-32 ARE ANTICIPATED OR OBVIOUS IN LIGHT OF
`THE PRIOR ART IDENTIFIED IN RPX’S PETITION ................................ 23
`A. The Claims in International Patent Application Publication No. WO
`99/01948 Disclose Each Limitation of Claims 1-31 of the ‘037
`Patent ......................................................................................................... 25
`B. Ferriere Discloses Each Limitation of Claims 1-4, 9-11, 13, 17-21,
`24, 25, 29, 31, and 32 of the ‘037 Patent, and Renders Claims 7, 12,
`14, and 15 Obvious .................................................................................... 32
`C. Ferriere Renders Independent Claims 1 and 17, and Dependent
`Claims 2-4, 7, 9-15, 18-21, 24, 25, 29, 31, and 32 of the ‘037 Patent
`Obvious ...................................................................................................... 91
`D. Ferriere and Kalra Render Claims 5 and 6 of the ‘037 Patent
`Obvious ...................................................................................................... 94
`E. Ferriere and Schulzrinne Render Claims 8, 23, 26, and 30 of the
`‘037 Patent Obvious .................................................................................. 98
`F. Ferriere and Chen Render Claim 11 of the ‘037 Patent Obvious ...........106
`G. Ferriere and Hluchyj Render Claim 22 of the ‘037 Patent Obvious .......108
`H. Ferriere and Riddle Render Claim 27 of the ‘037 Patent Obvious .........111
`I. Ferriere and Barraclough Render Claims 28 and 30 of the ‘037
`Patent Obvious .........................................................................................115
`J. Ferriere and Lin Render Claim 32 of the ‘037 Patent Obvious ..............120
`K. Ferriere and Kudo Render Independent Claims 1 and 17 of the ‘037
`Patent Obvious, and Likewise Dependent Claims 2-15, 18-21, and
`23-32 Would Have Been Obvious over Ferriere and Kudo, or over
`Ferriere and Kudo in Combination with Other References ....................123
`
`i
`
`

`
`
`
`L. Goetz Discloses Each Limitation of Claims 1, 2, 10, 11, 13, 17, 20-
`22, 24-26, and 29 of the ‘037 Patent, and Renders Claims 8, 9, 12,
`14, and 23 Obvious ..................................................................................128
`M. Goetz Renders Independent Claims 1 and 17, and Dependent
`Claims 2, 8-14, 20-26, and 29 of the ‘037 Patent Obvious .....................167
`N. Goetz and Cannon Render Claims 2-4, 15, 18, and 19 of the ‘037
`Patent Obvious .........................................................................................169
`O. Goetz and Kalra Render Claim 5 of the ‘037 Patent Obvious ................179
`P. Goetz, Cannon, and Kalra Render Claims 6 and 15 of the ‘037
`Patent Obvious .........................................................................................183
`Q. Goetz and Walsh Render Claim 8 of the ‘037 Patent Obvious ...............186
`R. Goetz and Brandenburg Render Claim 11 of the ‘037 Patent
`Obvious ....................................................................................................188
`S. Goetz and Krueger Render Claims 20 and 28 of the ‘037 Patent
`Obvious ....................................................................................................190
`T. Goetz and RealAudio Render Claims 27 and 30 of the ‘037 Patent
`Obvious ....................................................................................................196
`U. Goetz and Ferriere Render Claim 32 of the ‘037 Patent Obvious ..........201
`V. Goetz and Lin Render Claim 32 of the ‘037 Patent Obvious .................204
`VII. SIGNATURE .................................................................................................207
`
`ii
`
`

`
`
`
`I, Schuyler Quackenbush, Ph.D., declare:
`
`1.
`
`I have been retained by Petitioner RPX Corporation (“RPX”), to
`
`assess U.S. Patent No. 7,490,037 (“the ’037 patent). I am being compensated for
`
`my time at a rate of $400 per hour, plus actual expenses. My compensation is not
`
`dependent in any way upon the outcome of RPX’s petition.
`
`2.
`
`I understand that this declaration is being submitted in connection
`
`with three petitions regarding the same ‘037 patent, and that while the exhibits to
`
`all three petitions are the same, they are required to have different numbering.
`
`Therefore, when I cite to an exhibit in this declaration, I provide all three of the
`
`exhibit’s numbers, one for each petition. For example, the ‘037 patent is Ex. 1001
`
`is one petition, Ex. 1101 in the second petition, and Ex. 1201 in the third petition; I
`
`therefore cite it as “Ex. 1001/1101/1201.”
`
`I.
`
`PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
`3.
`
`I am currently the founder and CEO of Audio Research Labs, LLC, a
`
`media technology consulting company that has developed and sells products for
`
`subjective audio evaluation and for multi-channel audio mixing. I have been active
`
`in standardization of encoding formats for compressed media: I have participated
`
`in the ISO/IEC MPEG process since 1995 and am currently Chair of the MPEG
`
`Audio subgroup. I am also an adjunct professor at New York University’s
`
`1
`
`

`
`
`
`Steinhardt School, where I teach the graduate-level course “Introduction to
`
`Perceptual Audio Coding.”
`
`4.
`
`I received a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree in Electrical
`
`Engineering from Princeton University in 1975. I received a Master of Science
`
`degree in Electrical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology
`
`(“Georgia Tech”) in 1980, specializing in Signal Processing. I received a Ph.D. in
`
`Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech in 1985. The subject of my Ph.D. thesis
`
`was “Objective Measures of Speech Quality.”
`
`5.
`
`From 1986 to 2002, I worked at AT&T Bell Laboratories (Signal
`
`Processing Research Department) and AT&T Laboratories (Speech and Audio
`
`Research Department and Speech and Audio Coding Group), where I was an
`
`expert in audio coding and real-time signal processing. My primary research
`
`projects and responsibilities included developing algorithms and corresponding
`
`real-time implementations for error mitigation for streaming audio signals using
`
`MPEG-2 Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) on 3G cellular and IP channels,
`
`contributing to the AAC standard as AT&T’s principal delegate to the MPEG
`
`Audio Subgroup, designing the audio encoder and decoder for a U.S.
`
`standardization of digital audio broadcast sponsored by the National Association of
`
`Broadcasters and the Electronics Industry Association, developing and
`
`implementing a streaming client/server music player using the AT&T audio
`
`2
`
`

`
`
`
`technology and communication via ISDN, and designing and refining algorithms,
`
`writing software, and building hardware for several prototype image, speech, and
`
`audio codecs based on digital signal processing (DSP) chips.
`
`6.
`
`In 2002, I founded Audio Research Labs, LLC, where I continue to
`
`work today. (See ¶ 3 above.) In 2006, I founded Lightspeed Audio Labs, Inc.,
`
`where I served as Vice President until 2009. At Lightspeed, I designed, developed,
`
`and tested all aspects of the Lightspeed client/server architecture for real-time
`
`audio streaming, recording, mixing and playback. I became an adjunct professor at
`
`New York University’s Steinhardt School in 2013, where I continue to teach today.
`
`(See ¶ 3 above.)
`
`7.
`
`Since 1998, I have been Chair of the MPEG Audio Subgroup of the
`
`ISO/IEC Standards Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. In this role, I am
`
`responsible for recommending areas for possible standardization, setting and
`
`executing the agenda for current work, and developing a vision for future work of
`
`the MPEG Audio Subgroup. Notable accomplishments of the group during my
`
`tenure have been standardizing High-Efficiency Advanced Audio Coding (HE-
`
`AAC), Enhanced Low Delay Advanced Audio Coding (AAC-ELD), MPEG
`
`Surround, Spatial Audio Object Coding (SAOC), and Unified Speech and Audio
`
`Coding (USAC).
`
`3
`
`

`
`
`
`8. My detailed employment background, professional experience, and
`
`list of technical papers, books, and patents are contained in my CV. (Ex.
`
`1003/1103/1203.)
`
`9.
`
`Prior to reviewing the ‘037 patent, I was well familiar with the subject
`
`matter described and claimed in the ‘037 patent. The ‘037 patent “concerns a
`
`method of encoding signals, in particular digitized audio signals.” (Ex.
`
`1001/1101/1201 at 1:16-17.) I am an expert in the field of signals and coding, and
`
`in particular digital audio encoding.
`
`II. MATERIALS REVIEWED AND CONSIDERED
`10.
`In connection with my work on this matter, I have reviewed the ‘037
`
`patent (Ex. 1001/1101/1201) as well as the other following documents:
`
`EXHIBIT
`
`DESCRIPTION
`
`1001/1101/1201 U.S. Patent No. 7,490,037 (“the ‘037 patent”)
`
`1006/1106/1206 English translation of International Patent Application
`
`Publication No. WO 99/01948
`
`1009/1109/1209 Webster’s New World Dictionary of Computer Terms, Sixth
`
`Edition (1997), p. 470, definition of “signal”
`
`1010/1110/1210 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language,
`
`Third Edition (1996), p. 1854, definition of “test”
`
`1011/1111/1211 U.S. Patent No. 5,835,495 (“Ferriere”)
`
`4
`
`

`
`
`
`1012/1112/1212 GSM 06.10, “GSM Full Rate Speech Transcoding”, Technical
`
`Rep. Vers. 3.2, ETSI/GSM, February 1992, from File History of
`
`U.S. Patent No. 5,835,495 (Ferriere)
`
`1014/1114/1214 U.S. Patent No. 5,319,562 (“Whitehouse”)
`
`1015/1115/1215 U.S. Patent No. 5,953,506 (“Kalra”)
`
`1016/1116/1216 H. Schulzrinne, “Voice Communication Across the Internet: A
`
`Network Voice Terminal,” CS Technical Report 92-50,
`
`University of Massachusetts Amherst, July 29, 1992
`
`(“Schulzrinne”)
`
`1034/1134/1234 J.-H. Chen, “A Low-Delay CELP Coder for the CCITT 16 kb/s
`
`Speech Coding Standard,” IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in
`
`Communications, Vol. 10, No. 5, June 1992, pp. 830-49
`
`(“Chen”)
`
`1035/1135/1235 U.S. Patent No. 5,115,429 (“Hluchyj”)
`
`1036/1136/1236 U.S. Patent No. 5,857,189 (“Riddle”)
`
`1037/1137/1237 U.S. Patent No. 5,539,741 (“Barraclough”)
`
`1038/1138/1238 U.S. Patent No. 5,189,543 (“Lin”)
`
`1039/1139/1239 U.S. Patent No. 5,600,313 (“Freedman”)
`
`1040/1140/1240 U.S. Patent No. 4,606,044 (“Kudo”)
`
`5
`
`

`
`
`
`1041/1141/1241 U.S. Patent No. 5,956,729 (“Goetz”)
`
`1042/1142/1242 U.S. Patent No. 6,014,706 (“Cannon”)
`
`1043/1143/1243 U.S. Patent No. 5,903,261 (“Walsh”)
`
`1044/1144/1244 Brandenburg and Stoll, “ISO-MPEG-1 Audio: A Generic
`
`Standard for Coding of High-Quality Digital Audio,” Journal of
`
`the Audio Engineering Society, Vol. 42, No. 10, October 1994,
`
`pp. 780-92 (“Brandenburg”)
`
`1045/1145/1245 U.S. Patent No. 5,996,022 (“Krueger”)
`
`1046/1146/1246 “Release Notes: RealAudio Player 2.0 for Windows – About the
`
`RealAudio Player 2.0,”
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/19970614003735/http://www.real.c
`
`om/help/player/win2.0/about.html, captured June 14, 1997,
`
`printed in Exhibit A of Affidavit of Christopher Butler (Ex.
`
`1048/1148/1248)
`
`1047/1147/1247 “Release Notes: RealAudio Player 2.0 for Windows –
`
`RealAudio Player Controls,”
`
`https://web.archive.org/web/19970614003654/http://www.real.c
`
`om/help/player/win2.0/controls.html, captured June 14, 1997,
`
`printed in Exhibit A of Affidavit of Christopher Butler (Ex.
`
`1048/1148/1248)
`
`6
`
`

`
`
`
`
`III. LEVEL OF ORDINARY SKILL IN THE ART
`11. For purposes of assessing whether prior art references disclose every
`
`element of a patent claim (thus “anticipating” the claim) and/or would have
`
`rendered the claimed invention obvious, I understand that the ‘037 patent and the
`
`prior art references must be assessed from the perspective of a person having
`
`ordinary skill in the art (“POSA”) to which the patent is related, based on the
`
`understanding of that person at the time of the invention date. I understand that a
`
`POSA is presumed to be aware of all pertinent prior art and the conventional
`
`wisdom in the art, and is a person having ordinary creativity. I have applied this
`
`standard throughout my declaration.
`
`12.
`
`I have been asked to provide my opinion as to the state of the art in
`
`the field of digital signal encoding in the early-1997 timeframe. I use the early-
`
`1997 timeframe because the ‘037 patent at 1:7-11 claims priority to a German
`
`application filed in July of 1997. Whenever I offer an opinion below about the
`
`knowledge of a POSA, the manner in which a POSA would have understood the
`
`claims of the ‘037 patent, the manner in which a POSA would have understood the
`
`prior art, or what a POSA would have been led to do based on the prior art, I am
`
`referencing this timeframe (i.e., early 1997). When I offer an opinion or
`
`explanation below about the teachings of the prior art and/or the claims of the ‘037
`
`7
`
`

`
`
`
`patent, I am explaining how the issue would have been viewed by a POSA in the
`
`early-1997 timeframe, even if I do not say so specifically in each case.
`
`13.
`
`In my opinion, a POSA related to the ‘037 patent in the early-1997
`
`timeframe would have had at least a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and/or
`
`Computer Science or the equivalent, along with at least two years of experience in
`
`developing digital signal encoding systems. This person would have been capable
`
`of understanding and applying the prior art references discussed herein.
`
`14. By 1997, I was a principal technical staff member of the Speech and
`
`Audio Research Department at AT&T Laboratories, and I had over 10 years of
`
`experience with digital signal encoding systems. Therefore, I was a person of
`
`more than ordinary skill in the art during the relevant time period. However, I
`
`worked with many people who fit the characteristics of the POSA, and I am
`
`familiar with their level of skill. When developing the opinions set forth below, I
`
`assumed the perspective of a person having ordinary skill in the art, as set forth
`
`above.
`
`IV. THE BASICS OF DIGITAL SIGNAL ENCODING
`15. The ‘037 patent relates to encoding signals in general, and “in
`
`particular digitized audio signals.” (Ex. 1001/1101/1201 at 1:1-2; 15:6-7.) As
`
`explained in ¶ 31 below, a signal is a transmission of information. Audio
`
`information is an electrical representation of sound. Audio is originally captured
`
`8
`
`

`
`
`
`(e.g., from a microphone) as an analog signal (i.e., continuous in time), but it may
`
`be converted to a digital signal. In this process, called “digitization,” the analog
`
`audio signal is converted to a sequence of binary bits (i.e., zeroes and ones).
`
`16. Digitization of an analog (audio) signal involves sampling and
`
`quantization. In sampling, the continuous-time analog signal is reduced to a finite
`
`sequence of digital values representing the analog signal’s values at discrete points
`
`in time. Typically, the samples are taken at regular intervals determined by a
`
`sampling rate; for example, sampling at a rate of 8,000 samples per second reduces
`
`each second of audio to 8,000 discrete digital values that are regularly spaced in
`
`time. In quantization, a finite, discrete set of values is selected for representation
`
`of the signal, and the true value of each sample is rounded to the nearest value in
`
`the discrete set. The set of discrete values selected for the quantization step
`
`determines how many bits are required to represent each signal sample. For
`
`example, quantizing to a set of 256 values (by rounding the true value of each
`
`sample to the nearest value in the set of 256) requires 8 bits per sample (28 = 256).
`
`After sampling, quantization, and conversion to binary bits, the number of bits
`
`required to represent each second of the digitized audio signal (i.e., the “bit rate”)
`
`is determined by multiplying the sampling rate by the bits per sample. For
`
`example, a sampling rate of 8,000 bits/s and 8 bit/sample quantization yield a
`
`digitized bit rate of 64,000 bits/sample.
`
`9
`
`

`
`
`
`17.
`
`“Encoding” can refer to the process of compressing a digitized signal
`
`into a form represented with fewer bits per second than the original digitized
`
`signal, resulting in an encoded bit rate that is less than the original digitized bit
`
`rate. This can be advantageous for transmission and storage, since fewer bits need
`
`be transmitted and stored once the signal is encoded. Various encoding algorithms
`
`exist for transforming a digitized signal into compressed coded form with a
`
`reduced bit rate – e.g., MPEG, CELP, RPE-LTP, etc. Many of these encoding
`
`algorithms operate on “blocks” or “frames” of multiple samples of the signal as a
`
`unit, rather than on individual samples. Thus, the bit rate for an encoded digitized
`
`signal may be determined by dividing the sampling rate (in samples per second) by
`
`the number of samples per block, and multiplying by the number of bits per block
`
`when the block is encoded (which is less than the number of bits per block of the
`
`original digitized signal). The device component (which may be a software
`
`component) that applies the encoding algorithm to encode a digitized signal may
`
`be called a “coder.”
`
`18.
`
`“Encoding” or “coding” can also refer to other types of mathematical
`
`operations applied to a signal for other purposes, such as making the signal robust
`
`to problems that can occur during transmission. For example, in “channel coding,”
`
`certain operations are performed on a signal to allow for error correction when the
`
`signal is transmitted through a noisy or error-prone channel. Such channel coding
`
`10
`
`

`
`
`
`can be performed after the aforementioned compression encoding, or can be
`
`performed on a signal that has not been encoded for bit-rate compression. The
`
`compression-related encoding is commonly referred to as “source coding” or
`
`“source encoding” to distinguish it from channel coding.
`
`19.
`
`In modern communications, data is often transmitted over distances
`
`(e.g., via a network) in “packet” form. In packet-based transmission, a signal (e.g.,
`
`encoded audio) is divided up and transmitted in packets, with a certain amount of
`
`the signal (i.e., a certain number of bits or equivalently a certain number of seconds
`
`of audio) in each packet. The packet size may be the same as the number of bits
`
`used to encode a block of samples, or there may be multiple encoded blocks per
`
`packet. Each packet typically has some additional bits forming a packet “header,”
`
`which includes information allowing the receiving device to determine how to
`
`unpack the packets and put the signal back together after transmission and
`
`reception.
`
`20. When an encoded signal (e.g., audio) is transmitted from a source
`
`device and received by a receiving device, the received encoded audio must be
`
`decoded (e.g., by the receiving device) and converted back to an analog signal (i.e.,
`
`un-digitized) in order for it to be played through a speaker or earphones for a user
`
`to hear. Each encoding algorithm has a corresponding reverse algorithm for
`
`undoing the encoding and thereby decompressing the compressed (encoded)
`
`11
`
`

`
`
`
`signal. The device component (which may be a software component) that applies
`
`the decoding algorithm may be called a “decoder.”
`
`21. A receiving device can decode and play encoded audio in real time as
`
`it is received, or can store the encoded audio for later decoding. Encoded audio
`
`typically takes the form of a time-ordered sequence of bits or packets. When
`
`transmitted, earlier bits/packets arrive at the receiver before later bits/packets. For
`
`example, the first few seconds of a song may arrive at a receiving computer,
`
`followed afterward by the next few seconds of the song, and so on. A receiver that
`
`plays the audio in real time will play the first few seconds when they are received,
`
`without waiting for the next few seconds to arrive before beginning playing. If the
`
`next few seconds arrive by the time the first few seconds have been played, the
`
`next few seconds can be played immediately after the first few seconds, such that
`
`the user hears the audio content in real time as it is transmitted. This type of real-
`
`time decoding and playback is appropriate for “live” applications such as
`
`teleconferences, where it is important to minimize delay in the user hearing the
`
`audio.
`
`22. Other types of applications may allow for the audio to be received,
`
`stored, and decoded and played back later – for example, when a user downloads a
`
`song from the Internet, it may be possible to wait for the entire song to be
`
`downloaded before starting to decode and play the song from the beginning. In
`
`12
`
`

`
`
`
`many cases, however, it may not be possible or desirable to download and store an
`
`entire audio file on the receiving device, or the user may not want to wait for the
`
`entire download to complete before beginning to listen to the file. In such cases, it
`
`can be beneficial to begin decoding and playback of received portions of the audio
`
`before later portions have been received – this is typically called “streaming.”
`
`Streaming audio can be played in real time, in which each time-slice of the audio is
`
`played as it is received, or some portion less than the entire audio file (e.g., a few
`
`seconds) can be “buffered” (i.e., temporarily stored at the receiving device) before
`
`beginning playback.
`
`23. The real-time streaming capabilities of a receiving device can be
`
`limited by the speed at which it can receive data. For example, if the receiving
`
`device uses a modem to receive data from a network (such as the Internet), the
`
`modem has a maximum bit rate at which it is capable of receiving data. Other
`
`factors can also slow down a device’s ability to receive and process data, such as
`
`the device’s available processing power, other limitations of the network
`
`connection that slow down the reception rate, etc. If the bit rate of the transmitted
`
`encoded audio is higher than the bit rate at which the receiver can successfully
`
`receive, decode, and play back, then the receiver will not be able to play the
`
`streaming audio in real time. For example, if the audio is encoded at 20
`
`kilobits/second and the receiver can only receive at 10 kilobits/second, then for
`
`13
`
`

`
`
`
`every second of audio that the receiver receives and plays, it will have to pause for
`
`another second while waiting for reception of the next second of the audio to catch
`
`up. The resulting interrupted and jerky playback may be unacceptable to listeners.
`
`24. To avoid such unsatisfactory listening experiences, many streaming
`
`audio systems allow for encoding at any one of multiple possible bit rates. In such
`
`systems, the bit rate at which the audio is encoded at the source (which, as
`
`discussed above, can be determined by appropriate settings of sampling rate,
`
`quantization rate, encoding algorithm, etc.) is customized to the speed at which the
`
`receiving device can receive and play back the data. In general, higher encoded bit
`
`rates yield higher quality audio (with less distortion due to effects of quantization,
`
`and possibly higher signal bandwidth due to higher sampling rate), but the bit rate
`
`should be limited by the receiver’s reception and decoding rates to avoid jerkiness
`
`and pauses.
`
`V.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE ‘037 PATENT CLAIMS
`25. The ‘037 patent (Ex. 1001/1101/1201)1 describes and claims a method
`
`and apparatus for encoding a signal (e.g., a digitized audio signal), in which the
`
`encoding format used by the encoding device corresponds to one or more
`
`properties of a processing device that processes the signal. (15:6-20; 16:27-39.)
`
`The ‘037 patent describes selecting the encoding format as “in particular”
`
`
`1 Unless otherwise indicated, all citations in Section V are to Ex. 1001/1101/1201.
`
`14
`
`

`
`
`
`determining the encoding bit rate. (4:50-54.) This is nothing more than the well-
`
`known concept of encoding to multiple possible bit rates, discussed in Section IV
`
`above, in which the encoding format which determines the encoding bit rate is
`
`made to correspond to one or more properties of the receiving/decoding device,
`
`such as that device’s reception rate or processing power. The ‘037 patent further
`
`describes and claims using a test signal transmitted to the processing device, and
`
`detecting at least one property of the processing device, to determine the encoding
`
`format. (15:14-20; 16:33-39.) This is generic to a number of techniques for
`
`ascertaining the limitations of the receiving/decoding device in order to adjust the
`
`encoding format in an encoding system that supports multiple bit rates, examples
`
`of which were well known in the art prior to the ‘037 patent’s priority date, and are
`
`disclosed in the prior art references discussed in the sections below.
`
`26.
`
`I understand that each claim must be evaluated individually on its
`
`merits, and I have done so below. The ‘037 patent includes independent claims 1
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`and 17. Claim 1 is reproduced below. The bracketed letters are added for
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`purposes of cross reference.
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`1. A method of encoding signals, in particular digitized audio signals, the
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`method comprising the steps of:
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`[A] providing an encoding device for encoding a signal in an encoding
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`format;
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`[B] providing a processing device for processing the encoded signal; and
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`[C] providing a control device for determining the encoding format,
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`[D] wherein the encoding format corresponds to at least one property of
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`the processing device, and [E] wherein the control device determines the
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`encoding format by carrying out at least the following steps:
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`[F] transmitting a test signal to the processing device, wherein the
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`test signal is transmitted by a test signal generator of the control
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`device; and
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`[G] detecting at least one property of the processing device.
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`27. Claim 17 differs very little from claim 1. One difference is in the
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`preamble, where claim 17 recites, “Apparatus for encoding signals comprising:” in
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`place of the preamble of claim 1. The rest of claim 17 (i.e., the body of the claim)
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`is identical to that of claim 1, except that claim 17 omits the word “providing” at
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`the beginning of elements [A], [B], and [C].
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`28. Elements [A] and [B] of independent claims 1 and 17 recite typical
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`components of a system dealing with encoded signals. Element [A] recites an
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`encoding device (e.g., an “encoder”), which is present in any system in which
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`signals are encoded. Element [B] broadly recites “a processing device for
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`processing the encoded signal,” which is generic to any type of processing, such as
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`decoding of the signal. A decoding device (e.g., a “decoder”) is also present in any
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`system in which signals are encoded (e.g., for transmission) and later decoded to
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`revert back to a user-accessible form.
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`29. Elements [C] and [D] are typical of encoding systems, such as the
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`encoding systems that support multiple bit rates discussed in Section IV above, in
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`which the format (e.g., encoding algorithm, encoding bit rate, etc.) in which the
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`signal is encoded is customized based on one or more properties of the device that
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`is to process the encoded signal (e.g., the receiving and/or decoding device).
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`Element [D] is generic to such customization, in which “the encoding format
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`corresponds to at least one property of the processing device,” and element [C]
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`generically recites the system component that implements the customization by
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`“determining the encoding format.” Elements [E-G] recite a typical way of
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`determining the encoding format for the customization, by transmitting a test
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`signal to the processing device and detecting a property. The claim language is
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`broad and can encompass a variety of types of test signals and detection methods,
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`examples of which are discussed in the references reviewed below and were
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`known prior to the ‘037 patent’s claimed priority date.
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`30.
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`I understand that in an inter partes review proceeding, claim terms of
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`an unexpired patent should be given their broadest reasonable interpretation (BRI)
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`consistent with the specification. I understand that the BRI of terms that are
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`explicitly defined in the specification is the definition given in the specification. I
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`understand that the BRI for terms that are not defined in the specification is the
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`plain and ordinary meaning consistent with the specification. In my analysis
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`below, I apply that standard to the words and phrases of the challenged claims.
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`31.
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`In the context of the ‘037 patent’s specification, a POSA would have
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`understood the plain and ordinary meaning of the term “signal” (which is not
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`defined in the ‘037 patent) to encompass any transmission of information. See,
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`e.g., Ex. 1009/1109/1209, definition of “signal” as “[t]he portion of a transmission
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`that coherently represents information.” (I cite this dictionary definition not as a
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`source of my knowledge of what a POSA would have understood “signal” to
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`mean, but rather as an example authority that is consistent with and supports my
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`own knowledge of the meaning of this term to a POSA.)
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`32. For example, an analog audio waveform (i.e., time-varying pressure
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`level perceivable as sound information), which is transmitted via movement of air
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`particles, is a signal. Other representations of such a waveform are also referred to
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`in the art as signals. For example, a digitized representation of an audio waveform
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`(see ¶ 16 above), which can be transmitted via a wire or other medium for
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`transmitting digitized information, is also a signal. A bit stream representing an
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`encoded, compressed version of the digitized audio waveform is also referred to in
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`the art as a signal, and can be transmitted over distances from a source to a
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`receiver, and can also be transmitted locally between devices or between
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`components of a device. Other types of signals convey information other than
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`waveforms. For example, a signal may be transmitted from a source to a receiver
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`to communicate any kind of data, such as a query, a request, a response, a
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`notification, or any other data communication. In digital communications, such a
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`data signal may be in the form of a transmitted sequence of bits, just as a signal
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`communicating an encoding of a waveform (such as audio) may be in the form of a
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`transmitted sequence of bits (i.e., a bit stream).
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`33. Signals can be considered at many levels, and smaller signals can be
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`contained within and/or combined to create larger signals. For example, in packet-
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`based digital communications, an individual packet can be considered a signal,
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`which transmits a packet-sized quantity of information (i.e., a data packet). A
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`stream of packets, transmitted from a particular source to a particular receiver, and
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`communicating a coherent set of information such as a data communication or a
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`representation of an audio waveform, can also be considered a signal. A
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`bidirectional communication such as a telephone conversation between two parties
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`can also be considered a signal. The bidirectional communication is a signal that
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`itself includes other signals – e.g., the audio bit stream signal(s) from the first party
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`to the second party and the audio bit stream signal(s) from the second party to the
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`first party, which together form the bidirectional communication signal by
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`transmitting the information of the bidirectional conversation. The ‘037 patent is
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`consistent with this plain and ordinary meaning of the term “signal” which
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`encompasses signals of each of the foreg